


Late Night Justice-ing

by melbie



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Action, F/M, Teen Romance, wonderbeetle
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-11
Updated: 2013-03-11
Packaged: 2017-12-05 00:43:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/716909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melbie/pseuds/melbie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Cassie needs a misfit in crime, she drags Jaime on a secret solo mission that leads to them discovering more than they expected about themselves and each other. WonderBeetle. Two-shot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: Young Justice is owned by DC Comics, Warner Bros., and - unfortunately - Cartoon Network.

There is a tenth circle of hell unacknowledged by Dante's  _Inferno_ , and it is called boredom.

Cassie slumped on the floor of the main control room. Wolf had partially curled around her, thick tail thumping against the ground. Every so often she gave his belly an affectionate scratch. All the while she kept her eyes trained on Nightwing and Mal, who were working at the holographic control panel. Far away enough to be inconspicuous, but close enough to hear their conversation.

"Where's Karen tonight?" Nightwing was asking.

Mal paused. "Another late-night at the lab."

"Isn't that the third time this week?"

His eyes flicked downwards, betraying his disappointment. "Yeah."

Nightwing gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. Cassie rolled her eyes. She felt bad for Mal, she really did, but she hadn't been eavesdropping for the past hour to hear about his relationship problems.

These days the only action she saw came from training practice, and that wasn't nearly enough. Not that the senior members encouraged her to hold back, but successfully landing a hit on Superboy wasn't nearly the same as punching a bad guy right through the face.

Outside of practice and missions, her options were limited. Wonder Woman was still on her chain gang odyssey so patrol was a no go. Hanging around the Cave got boring fast when you see the same people every day, and she  _definitely_ wasn't about to spend time cooped at home with her mom, who would inevitably give the "using powers responsibly" lectures. It wouldn't be so bad if they had a mission or two, but since the Justice League's heavy hitters had gone off-world Nightwing was maintaining strict priority levels. According to him, they couldn't risk their safety or resources when a full-scale invasion was right around the corner.

So Cassie had spent the past couple of days lounging around the control room, ready to be the first person on hand for a mission. Every time the computers pipped she visibly flinched. This waiting business was  _so_ not her style. She took out her frustration by rubbing furiously at Wolf's stomach. Wolf's head lolled to one side and he panted happily like a jumbo sized puppy.

"...something about kidnapped sisters?"

Her ears perked up. Mal was zooming in on a luminescent newspaper article with two tiny pictures underneath a bold headline.

Nightwing waved a hand over the interface and brought up the case files. "Already checked it out. I thought it might be related to the recent kidnappings, but it looks like a domestic issue. Girls kidnapped by mom's boyfriend; open and shut custody case."

"It says they haven't been found yet."

"The guy's slippery, but if he's dragging two unhappy kids along he shouldn't be too hard to track down. Even for the police."

Mal inspected the article, thoughtfully rubbing his chin. "The mom is being awfully adamant about the whole thing. Started a local movement and everything."

"They're her daughters. Why wouldn't she be dedicated?"

"Still, missions have been a bit scarce lately," Cassie could've sworn she saw Mal glance in her direction. "Should we send a team anyway?"

_Say yes, say yes, say yes!_

Nightwing shook his head mournfully. "Can't. Still on priority level red. I'll put out a bulletin, but it looks like we'll have to let the local feds take care of it."

Cassie's head drooped. So close.

And yet the bitter tone in Nightwing's voice continued to ring in her ears. She knew their leader well enough to know that this was killing him. He believed in many things, and doing everything in one's power to help others was one of them. But the team was his responsibility. It was a heavy burden, and one that he had carried for some time. She respected him for it. The ability to separate personal feelings and duties was a trademark skill of his leadership.

 _I guess it's a good thing I'm not leader then._ She grinned to herself. If there was one thing she had learned as a member of the team, it was sometimes you needed to take justice into your own hands. Cassie gave Wolf one last scratch and casually slunk from the room.

Time to find a mission partner, she decided. Solo vigilantism was cool and all, but she still needed someone to watch her back. Plus, it wouldn't hurt to have someone to share the blame when Nightwing figured her out like he always did. She ran through the list in her head.

Nightwing and Mal were out, obviously.

Robin and Batgirl were a bit too straight-laced thanks to their mentor, and they were busy haunting the rooftops of Gotham anyway.

Garfield would probably jump at the chance to prove himself, but he was immature and needed so much looking after. Plus, a hyper green animal kid wasn't going to help her blend in on a domestic case.

Superboy would have come with her in a heartbeat, but he was looking after Metropolis in Superman's absence. Either that, or he was brooding in solitude somewhere as per usual. Both scenarios seemed plausible since the last time she had checked, M'gann and La'gann were having another of their movie nights.

She sighed. Good rule-breakers were hard to find.

But there was still one option available to her. All things considered, she didn't know why he hadn't been her first thought.

* * *

Jaime closed his laptop with a tight snap and groaned. The illuminated screen had left behind a burning imprint on his eyes when he squeezed them shut. One paper down, one to go. He let his head drift lower until he was lying flat on his stomach, face buried into the bedspread except for his cheek which dug into the corner of his laptop. The spine of a biology textbook was wedged partially under his stomach. It was uncomfortable, but he was too exhausted to care.

He often wondered what was the point in being a secret superhero if he still had to go to school. Shouldn't he get special exemption just for zipping around saving lives? Maybe Superman could get away with it, but as long as he lived under his mother's roof it was education or bust.

There was a light tap on his window, barely loud enough to register on his soporific brain.

 _Intruder alert!_ The scarab sparked to life.  _Recommend switching to offensive mode._

"You need to chill,  _ese_ ," Jaime suppressed the canon setting that was starting to form around his wrist. Even if his sleepy state he was getting better at controlling the suit. "It's probably a bird or something."

 _Negative,_  the scarab replied. _Scans indicate humanoid life form._

"What? How could -"

He jolted up from the bed. The moonlight illuminated a solitary figure standing - no, floating - outside his bedroom window. A very familiar figure.

"Cassie?"

She giggled and pulled off the hood of the gray sweatshirt she wore over her costume. Her blonde hair spilled loose and floated lazily in the night air, wreathing her face as though she was floating underwater. Her star-shaped earrings gave off their usual twinkle. Backed by the moonlight, her silhouette was given a silvery outline.

She was a vision.

And he was half-asleep lying in a disaster zone of a room and shirtless.

He held up a finger for her to wait and scrambled off the bed, pulling on the nearest shirt he could find, and thanking God he hadn't been too lazy not to wear pants. Nothing to be done about the room. A quick glance in the mirror showed the red imprint of his laptop was still printed on his cheek, but his hair looked decent. Once he had finished the bout of manly primping, he opened the window.

Cassie floated inside and perched herself on his desk. "How's it hanging?"

"What? Oh, good, it's hanging...good." His brain was working a million miles per second trying to process the situation. "Uh, you're in my room."

"I am. Is that a problem?"

"N-no, no, it's not, definitely not," Jaime dragged a hand through his hair, still thinking. "How do you know where I live?"

Her laughter was throaty and warm. "Did you forget who helped convince you to leave this hick town in the first place?"

Of course he didn't. How could he? That day was a memory he could never forget, down to the last detail. He still remembered his first impression of her. The way she strode right up to him, brimming with confidence. Blonde, gorgeous, a smile that could knock him flat, and talking right to him. He remembered the way she tugged on his sleeve when she talked, and the way they fought side by side like a pair of well-oiled gears in perfect tandem.

"Oh, yeah. I guess what I really want to ask is what brings you to my room at," he checked the glowing numbers on his clock radio. "One in the morning."

"Why do you think?"

He swallowed dry air. "Um...that feels like a dangerous question to answer."

"Fair enough." She stood and put her hands on her hips, chest throw out heroically. "What would you say to a little late-night justice-ing?"

 _Oh no._ This felt an awful lot like when Superboy dragged him off for "a little late-night justice-ing." That time, he had been persuaded by the threat of a senior teammate's muscles and resemblance to Superman. This time, he was being asked by Cassie and she was...well, Cassie. He couldn't decide which of two was more fearsome.

"Is this an assignment from Nightwing?"

"Not exactly..."

Jaime groaned. Yeah, this was definitely a bad idea. "I don't know, Cass. The last time I got pulled into a last minute mission I almost got my butt kicked by a giant outer space golem." He could still remember the golem's pleas for help. For destruction. The cracking, crumbling, and aching of it falling apart, breaking down from the inside. He shook his head, wiping away the memory, and focused on Cassie.

"Aw, come on!" she pleaded. "Just hear me out. It's for a good cause, I swear."

Jaime rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sighed, holding up his hands in surrender. "Fine. Tell me about the case."

She delivered the facts in rapid fire, rattling them from the top of her head. "Two little girls from San Antonio. Kidnapped. Authorities say it's the mom's boyfriend. No demands, no ransom. Possible gang connections. It's a quick beat 'em up, save the day mission."

 _Such a trivial pursuit is not befitting of_ our  _armor,_ said the scarab. Jaime could almost hear it rolling its eyes.

"And the reason Nightwing didn't give you permission...?" he asked.

Cassie crossed her arms and pouted. "With the ongoing Krollotean investigation he says it's not a high enough priority, but that's bull!" She slapped one hand on his shoulder, making a outraised fist with the other. "We are superheroes! No person is too small, and no job is out of our way! Fighting crime is our job, our mission statement, our purpose! Say you'll come with, Jaime. Please?"

The way he saw it there were two options. Go back to sleep, or go off punching baddies with the pretty girl who was smiling at him and had one hand on his shoulder. He could feel her fingertips lightly curled around the fabric of his shirt. The thin material felt red hot from her touch, or maybe that was a product of the blush slowly fanning from face to chest.

Make that one option.

"All right, I'll -" The sudden creaking of floorboards echoed all the way to his room. It was a noise he had hardwired himself to recognize for years. "Crap, it's my mom!" he hissed. "Hide!"

He pushed her towards the closet with no real success. Without the suit he might as well have been a light breeze pushing against the face of a cliff.

"What, why?" she asked, frowning in confusion.

"Uh, do  _you_ want to explain to her how and why you're in my room at one in the morning?"

"Good point." She darted inside the closet before Jaime's bedroom door and his mother poked her head in. Jaime froze in the middle of pretending to be gathering the clothes on his headboard.

"Jaime? Is everything ok? I thought I heard voices."

"Nah," he said with exaggerated nonchalance. "I was watching TV on my computer." He gestured to the bed, hoping she wouldn't realize it was powered off.

His mother placed her hands on bony hips. "Still? Get some sleep already.  _Es más tarde para usar la computadora."_

" _Si. Buenas noches."_

" _Buenas noches, mijo."_

He listened for his mother's fading footsteps and waited until the click of her bedroom door sounded before letting Cassie out.

"Sorry 'bout that."

She picked some lint off her sleeve. "Nah, it's fine, I get shoved into closets all the time."

Jaime was so hardwired the joke flew right over his head. "Really?"

Cassie raised an eyebrow at him. "No, of course not, I was kidding. Are you okay?"

 _Smooth move._  He wanted to pinch himself until the embarrassment faded away. "Yeah, no, I was just kidding too. Ha ha!" His laugh was awkward and hollow.

"Right...well, never mind. Now, was that an 'all right' I heard earlier?" Her eyes were wide and bright like the most dangerous puppy he had ever seen.

He sighed. Why did this already feel like a bad idea? "Yeah, you did. Let's go."

* * *

In minutes they were sailing through the night air, occasionally looping over each other. It was rare that Jaime got to fly with someone who enjoyed the freedom of flight as much as he did. At one point Cassie flew directly through a fat, cottony cloud and emerged with ice crystals in her hair, spitting out a mouth full of condensed cloud water, and laughing all the same.

The sensor on his wrist beeped. "Download complete." He swallowed. "Are you sure it's okay to be hacking into the Cave's mission files? They'll track us down in no time."

Before he had time to breathe she had swooped in close to read the screen over his shoulder. Her chin nearly rested in the crook of his elbow.

"Relax," she said, squinting to read better. "Mal's probably asleep and Nightwing patrols Bludhaven at this time of night. I know, I've checked."

"You've got way too much time on your hands."

"Ugh, you have no idea."

She continued reading the articles in silence, placing one hand on his shoulder to keep herself steady as they flew. It took every ounce of self control for Jaime to not cover her hand with his. It would have been so easy to just lift a hand and, with a single touch, convey feelings he tried desperately to keep under wraps. But then he glanced down at his other hand, saw the protective armor shielding it, and clenched his fist instead.

"There," she said suddenly, pointing to a blinking dot on the map. "Just a few miles north, we're almost there." All too quickly, her touch disappeared as she soared ahead of him.

The scarab's mechanical voice echoed indignantly in his head.  _Your judgment is impaired, Jaime Reyes. Do not trust the Wonder Girl, she -_

"Yeah, yeah, biochemical changes, whatever," he hissed quietly. "Why don't you take the backseat here,  _ese?_  I know what I'm doing. If you don't like it cover your eyes."

_Negative. Surveillance systems will remain operational._

"Stubborn little -" Cassie glanced at him questioningly. "I mean, what's our next move?"

"We land," she said simply. He hadn't realized they were already at their destination.

The darkened alley where they landed was the narrow space between an abandoned store and a bar. The rowdy sounds of their late night patrons could be heard through the dirty brick walls. They crouched behind a line of trash cans, accidentally disturbing a group of stray cats. Cassie casually petted one behind the ears and cocked one head to listen to the rabble.

"Sounds like a good place to pick up some info." She drew her sweatshirt hood over her head and poked her head around the corner. A group of rowdy college students passed by singing drunken renditions of radio pop music. When they were clear, she pulled Jaime out of the alley.

"Okay, act casual," she said, looping her arm through his. Jaime suddenly became very aware that his palms were sweating. "We don't want to be noticed. As far as anyone is concerned we're two college students who just moved to town for the new semester."

"And if someone  _does_  notice we're not college students? What are we supposed to do, make out?" he joked.

"If we have to," she answered, dead serious.

Jaime really hoped she didn't notice him swallowing thickly and surreptitiously wiped his palms on his jeans.

Getting in the bar wasn't a problem. If anything, the only problem was keeping Cassie in line.  _She's having way too much fun with this,_  Jaime thought as he watched her saunter over to the bartender.

The elderly potbellied man wiping down glasses eyeballed Cassie with suspicion. He could see the man calculating their ages in his head. They were definitely too young for this joint, any moron with an ounce of intellect could tell.

But Cassie had a knack for winning people over. She gave off an aura of confidence, as though daring anyone to believe she didn't belong. None of the patrons blinked twice when she chatted them up. After playfully elbowing one guy and laughing at a ribald joke, she waved Jaime over to speak with the bartender.

She launched into a story as he approached. "Listen, my friend here and I were talking about that kidnapping incident they keep showing on the news. We were so bored and so wasted that we actually made a bet on the outcome. Now, he says the parents are both in on it to cash in the insurance money because he saw an episode of CSI like that. I say he's full of crap and the dad's just a tool. What do you say?"

The bartender shook his head, smiling kindly like she was his inquisitive granddaughter. "Ah, I don't know."

"Come on, you're a bartender!" Cassie insisted. "Every cop show I've ever seen says you guys know the inside scoop on stuff like this. Plus, I've got ten bucks on the line!"

The bartender chuckled and dropped his voice. "All right all right, I hate to break to ya," he said to Jaime. "But your girl's probably got you beat."

Cassie cheered and Jaime gave an affected groan of disbelief.

"Truth is that guy used to come in here every so often, and lemme tell ya he was hanging with all the wrong sorts. Nothing was ever proved but I always assumed he was in league with the local crime gang."

"Oh my gosh," she gasped softly.

"Don't worry. They're small potatoes compared to what they got in Gotham, but they've been running circles around the police for years," he assured her. "I even saw a group of them by the pier once. They was beating on a member who turned tail or somethin' and, boy, it was a fright just to watch."

Cassie raised a hand to her mouth and clutched Jaime's sleeve as though she felt faint. "That's so scary. We just moved here last week for school. You don't think we'll ever run into them?"

"Not a city girl, eh? Don't worry sweetheart, it's not hard. Just avoid the piers and abandoned warehouses and don't wander into no dark alleys and you'll be fine. Besides," he gestured to Jaime with a champagne flute. "You've got a strong-looking fella to look out for ya."

Cassie nodded gratefully, but Jaime could see her lips drawn back in a smirk. He had to bite back a smile of his own. The day Cassie Sandsmark relied on a man to beat up thugs for her would be the day Jaime stopped believing in aliens.

She slapped Jaime on the back - a bit harder than she intended no doubt for he could already feel a bruise forming - and slung an arm around his shoulders. "Come on, let's go decide what you're going to buy me with the ten bucks I just won."

Jaime laughed. "You mean pizza?"

"Ooh, you read my mind." She turned back to the bartender and flashed him a thousand watt smile. "Thanks for humoring me, we'll come back some other time."

"My pleasure. You be careful now. Take care of this one, ya hear?" He shook a friendly finger at Jaime.

"You got it." He considered putting an arm around her waist to play along, but she was already shuffling him towards the door.

Outside the building Cassie sucked in a long breath of smoky night air. "Phew," she breathed. "I think that went well."

"Really well," he nodded. "What a relief. We didn't even have to...y'know."

The moment the words came out he knew it was the wrong thing to say.

Cassie froze and wheeled around, glaring fiercely. ""What? Make out?" Venomous sarcasm dripped from her words. "Yeah, you really dodged a bullet there."

"No, that's -"

She turned away dramatically. "Sorry about that, wouldn't want you to kiss someone like me."

"Wha - ? No, no, I didn't mean...I meant, I would love to - I mean, you're really..." He slapped a hand to his face. "Please forgive me so I'll stop talking."

To his enormous relief, she started giggling and socked him lightly in the shoulder. "It's okay, I know what you meant. I just wanted to make you suffer a little."

"Harsh,  _chica."_

"Yeah, well, you deserved it." Her smile hadn't burnt out, but her voice still stiffened. Jaime winced. He made plans to make it up to her later.

"I did, I did," he relented. "But seriously. Where did you learn to act like that?"

"Nowhere, I've just always wanted to do that." She shrugged shyly. "If only my mom could see me now, chatting up bartenders in seedy bars and chasing down crime gangs. She'd blow a blood vessel."

"Same. I think my mom would have locked me in confessional until  _Dios_  himself came down to forgive me."

She laughed appreciatively. "Nice to talk with someone in the same boat."

"Yeah. Nice." He held her gaze for a moment; his face stuck in a permanent silly grin. The moment held.

Cassie broke the connection first and set off strutting back towards the alley. "Well, we've got our heading. Wanna go check out that pier?"

"Lead the way." Jaime liked how she always asked his opinion before making plans. It was such a different dynamic from normal missions when they stuck to following orders.  _Why can't every mission be like this,_  he mused, watching the golden hair stream behind her.

* * *

After a few minutes of flying they touched down behind - Jaime couldn't believe it - an abandoned warehouse on the edge of a pier. They had hit the jack pot.

Cassie was thinking along the same lines. "All this place is missing is a neon sign that says 'we are bad guys,'" she commented.

"Do you think he's holding the kids here? What about the gang?"

"For all we know they could all be in on it."

"But they're just kids,  _niñas,_  why would a crime organization be interested in them?"

A dangerous glint entered her eyes. "Dunno. Let's go ask."

"Ask? Ask who?" He followed her gaze and saw a man in dark clothes fingering what was unmistakably a gun holster. "Oh no, no, no. It's too soon for punching answers out of people. Let's get some altitude." He pointed to the rooftop.

Cassie wilted visibly. "Fine. Spoiling my fun," she huffed.

He elbowed her slightly. "Let's find the girls first, then you can punch as many bad guys as you want."

"I'm holding you to that."

They floated up to the roof where Jaime activated his scanner. The glowing white-hot figures of no more than forty bulky men strolled around the complex in shifts.

"Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but domestic kidnappings don't usually involve a warehouse of men with guns. Right?" Jaimed asked uneasily.

"Something's definitely up," Cassie confirmed. "Do you see the girls?"

A few more sweeps revealed two smaller blobs, clearly tied together with their backs against a pole, where at the center of a wide room. He could see the outlines of boxes, weapons, large machines with conveyor belts, but no men.

"Got 'em. They're in a main packaging room. Totally deserted. Looks like all the men are guarding outside the room." He turned to his partner. "Should we go in?"

Cassie tapped the W on her chest, switching to stealth mode. "Like you have to ask?" She went into a rocking motion, clearly readying herself to crash through the ceiling.

Jaime yelped and pulled her down. "Not like that! What if they hear us and shoot the hostages?"

"That's the beauty of a surprise attack!" she insisted. "We'll hit them before they have time to shoot."

 _The Wonder Girl's logic is sound,_  the scarab said approvingly.

Jaime resisted the impulse to slap his own armor. He was never one to be rational and plan things out, but this girl was a loose canon. Even the scarab was agreeing with her! And  _that_ was a bad sign.

"No, it's not! I mean, it's too risky. We should sneak through the back."

"If you haven't noticed, neither of us are too great at the whole stealth thing. You're blue and beetle-y, and holding back is  _not_  my strong suit."

His mind searched for a solution. How best to convince a superpowered battle nut to power down? A light bulb idea sprung to mind. "But that's what makes it a challenge," he said with a daring smile.

She mulled over his words for a moment, then a wicked grin spread over her face. "I like the way you think. Back door it is. Come on, bug boy, let's get to it."

"Bug boy...?" But he let it go. Cassie was already sprinting ahead.

The lone patrolling guard in the back entrance was a rotund man. Not especially threatening in appearance, but the AK-47 he had hoisted over his shoulder spoke for itself. Peering over the roof edge, Jaime held one arm out to steady his eager partner and pointed at the security camera below them.

"Override the cameras," he ordered. The suit complied. A few sparks popped from the camera and it fizzled out.

The guard jumped in surprise and turned to look at the camera. It was still buzzing with loose electricity. He reached for his radio, failing to notice Cassie landing behind him. She disarmed the man in one stroke. He struggled and swung his arms clumsily to no avail. A single whip of her lasso and he was all but hogtied, dangling in the air like an oversized piñata. Cassie deposited him on the roof at Jaime's feet.

One look at the Blue Beetle and the man broke into pails of sweat. He opened his mouth to scream. Jaime made the suit's wings extend with a snap, his eyes glowing wicked orange.

"Don't even think about it,  _ese,_ " he warned.

The man's jaw trembled. "G. Gordon Godfrey was right!" he panicked. "The Earth  _is_ being invaded by aliens!"

"Hey!" Jaime protested.

Cassie stepped in front to cut him off. "That's right, buddy, my friend's an alien. And if you don't tell us what we wanna know, you're going home with an alien beetle inside your brain that'll eat you from the inside out!"

"You...you ain't serious."

"You really wanna test that theory?"

Jaime unsheathed a bulky scanner to illustrate her point. It was non-lethal, but the fat, sweating guard didn't know that.

"Now," she said, her smile sickly sweet. "Where are the girls, who kidnapped them, and why? Answer quick, I don't know how much self-control my friend has."

The man held up his hands in surrender, his eyes glued to the scanner in terror. "It was all the boss, ok? The chick he was shacking up with had kids - nosy kids - and apparently they was snooping and overheard something they shouldn't've. They was about'ta take it to the cops before the boss...y'know...kidnapped them. But only because they heard some real damaging information!"

Jaime repressed a shudder of disgust. "What kind of information?"

"I don't know, man, they don't tell me this kinda stuff! I just watch the supplies!"

"And you're doing a bang-up job. What supplies?"

The guard hesitated. Sighing, Jaime activated the scanner, which started glowing a menacing white-hot blue light.

"Okay, okay! It's guns, lots of guns! Shipment goes out at dawn!"

"And what about the girls?" Cassie demanded.

"Well...once the deal goes down the boss won't need them no more, right? There's no ransom neither an' they've been getting on his nerves so..." He shrugged.

The taught scowl on her face deepened. "Right. Thanks for your cooperation. At ease, soldier." She swiftly chopped the back of his neck and he crumpled to the ground.

Jaime sheathed the scanner. He regarded the unconscious guard warily. "Cassie?"

"Yeah, Blue?" She knelt on the ground, busy swiping the man's keyring.

"I'm getting the feeling this is a lot bigger than we thought. I don't know, maybe we should call Nightwing."

"Sure, we could do that," she said distractedly.

He frowned. "Why do I have the feeling that's exactly what we're  _not_  going to do?"

"It's like you're reading my mind today, Blue." She straightened and began stretching her arms. The joints in her shoulders gave a hollow pop, eager to be active. "How long until sunrise?"

"Maybe four or five hours." The very thought made him yawn widely.

She smacked him on the arm. For her it was a light tap, but his arm wouldn't stop tingling for several minutes. "How can you be tired! We're about to blow this mission out of the water."

"Can you blame me? It's already two in the morning."

"Justice doesn't sleep, and neither do we."

" _Estás loca._  You really think we can take down a whole warehouse of armed thugs before dawn?"

Cassie grinned. "I'll race you."

* * *

It took them a grand total of two minutes to get caught.

"You there! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Cassie froze in her tracks. Jaime stumbled to a stop, nearly tripping around the corner.

"Hi!" she said, flashing a guilty smile. "We were looking for the - um - bathroom?"

"Really? The bathroom?" The guard who caught them gave a sardonic smile and unclipped his holster. "That's the oldest excuse in the book."

Cassie gave a theatrical sigh. "Yeah, you're right, I should've just gone with the direct approach," she said as she brought her heel down on his man's head, smacking him into the ground.

Jaime slipped by at her signal, pausing to admire her work.  _"Chica,_ you are dangerous."

She shrugged. "Tell me something I don't know."

There was something liberating and free about zipping down hallways with Cassie at his side. No coms, no orders, no alpha-beta-gamma nonsense. Just the hazy idea of a plan and the loud thumping of adrenaline fueling their brains. Nothing to do but bust through, knock some heads, rescue some hostages, and save the day-

But it's amazing how the worst laid plans tend to blow up in one's face.

Jaime and Cassie broke through the doors and met a welcoming committee. Specifically, they found two squirming hostages, three dozen guns, and one very undeserted room.

His thoughts began wildly pounding against his brain.  _This doesn't make sense,_  he thought, bewildered.  _They were supposed to be guarding outside. Why -_

The men were drawing closer, weapons cocked and ready.

"Well, well, looks like we got some super brats on our hands," a particularly ugly one sneered from the front line. "Stand down."

"A few guns won't hurt us," Cassie scoffed. Her fingers were itching by the lasso tied to her belt.

"True." The man grabbed one of the terrified girls by the pigtail and buried the muzzle in her dirty locks. "But I can't promise the same for the brats." Tears streamed down the girl's face as she struggled to scream against her bonds.

Cassie swallowed visibly. Their worst case scenario was coming true, it seemed. She raised her hands in surrender. The glare of disgust and anger in her eyes could have burnt through iron.

 _What now, what now?!_  Jaime's brain ran through the laundry list of weapons. Was there one that could incapacitate an entire room? Plasma cannon, razor blade, heat ray, sonic cannon, jet pack - no, that's not a weapon -  _Cassie!_

Her hand was clamped to the side of her neck. With her other hand she had managed to deck the man who had snuck behind her who was wielding a thick hypodermic needle. It smashed to the floor, spilling a clear viscous liquid. Whatever it was, Cassie was not entirely immune. Jaime could see her strength waning. She began to mouth some kind of violent interjection, but her knees gave out too soon. In a second Jaime dropped all pretense of guard and dropped to catch her. She slumped in his arms, eyelids fluttering weakly.

"Wonder Girl? Stay with me, don't pass out, come on, Cass..."

The scarab seized its chance.  _You are compromised, Jaime Reyes. Grant me control of - !_

Too late. There was a sickening  _crack_  as the back of Jaime's head burst with pain. For a moment, fireworks of light fizzled in his eyes. All fell dark.


	2. Chapter 2

Cassie woke in a woozy haze of spinning floors and wavy walls.

Whatever those jerks had used, it was effective. Was this how it felt to be thoroughly, shamefully whupped? Sweaty strands of hair stuck to her forehead. The inside of her mouth tasted like copper. She had bitten her cheek mid-struggle. Plain metal handcuffs bound her hands and feet. She broke them with no more effort than snapping a pencil.

Soon her vision cleared enough to get a good look at the room. It resembled the inside of a bank vault, wheel lock and everything. The walls were solid steel. Punching through them would be a bitch. Beside her on the floor was Jaime. His armored face was still and expressionless. Without his customary bright orange eyes or quirk of a smile, he was almost a stranger. The thought gave her chills, and the reflex caused her to whack him across the face.

He stirred almost immediately, eyes screwed against the fluorescent lights. "Ouch," he croaked irritably.

"Wakey-wakey, sleeping beauty."

The suit peeled away, baring his face. Jaime felt around for the bump protruding from the back of his skull. "At least I got that nap I wanted," he muttered.

"How long have we been out?"

He checked his wrist screen. "Twenty minutes, give or take."

"You've gotta be kidding. That's it?" Too bad for their attackers. They probably thought it was mission accomplished already. It gave her no small amount of savage pleasure to think of their disappointed faces.

Jaime massaged his temples lightly. "My headache is clearing up already. This armor's made of stronger stuff than I thought."

"Ugh! I can't believe they got the drop on us. This is humiliating." Cassie punched a fist into her palm. "Come on, Blue. Grab your bug and let's bust out of here. I've got a notion where to stick those guns and it comes with a big heaping pile of payback."

Jaime quickly flung out an arm to block her. "Woah there, Wonder Girl. Remember what happened last time we rushed in, guns blazing? Plan first, then payback." He brushed the dirt off his armor and started circling the vault, scanner at the ready. "I'll start looking for a way out."

Ugh. This is what she got for inviting someone with a modicum of self control. She reluctantly leaned back against the vault's curved walls, arms crossed. "Recover and adapt. Right. Well, you've got the wrong girl for that. Batgirl's the one with the brains. I'm nothing but brawn."

"Don't be silly. You're much more than that," Jaime said, still absorbed in watching the scanner.

_That_  sent some heat through her cheeks. Both the words and how matter of fact he had been, as though remarking upon the color of her hair.

Jaime continued pacing the room, not even noticing her flustered silence. He felt along the walls for their weakest point, musing aloud, "What did we do wrong? I mean, sure, we didn't have much of a plan, but how could they have known we were here?"

Cassie pinched her cheeks a few times to regain focus and raised a hand. "I have a theory about that actually. Do you think when the scarab made fireworks out of that security camera it shorted out all of them?"

Jaime paused for a moment, head cocked slightly. Then he slapped a hand to his forehead. "The scarab says, ' _Affirmative. All surveillance systems were deactivated.'"_  He groaned. "Geez. No wonder they knew something was up. We need better communication, you and I," he grumbled at the beetle.

"That explains that at least." Cassie rolled a crick out of her neck.

Jaime eyed her warily. "You okay? What did they inject you with?"

"Some kind of tranquilizer. Must have had enough kick to take down a freaking elephant. It's almost worn off though." She stood and took a few shaky steps. At once Jaime was at her shoulder with a steady hand. "I'm good, Blue."

"You sure?" His hands lingered in the air still hoping to catch her.

"Yeah, no sweat." Cassie pumped her arms a few times and bounced lightly on her toes. "Just gotta get my blood flowing is all. Keep looking for our way out."

Jaime nodded and continued scanning the walls. Cassie felt a bit guilty for brushing him off. He was concerned, and that was sweet. He was a nice guy.

Wasn't that the problem? The world was full of nice guys like Jaime. Guys with bashful smiles and charming jokes and a flair for chivalry. But hand-in-hand with those traits came the guys who wanted to treat her like a delicate flower. To be the big strong man protecting her or else a shoulder to rest on.

And those guys? They never stuck around for long. Not once they discovered she could bench press a car and stop a speeding train. It kind of made their weight lifting records pale in comparison. For some reason there was nothing more damaging to the male ego than a girl who fought her own battles. Even less attractive was one who would slap anyone trying to stand between her and a good fight.

She had to hand it to Jaime, he handled her better than most. Granted, the other guys on the team had no problem standing back while she unleashed special cans of whoop-ass. They'd laugh and joke with her, run when she told them to go ahead, and dole out high-fives after a successful mission.

But Jaime kept looking at her like...well, there was no other way to describe it.

He saw her as a girl. And he wasn't too subtle about it either. She had been around enough stammering boys to know when they found her pretty.

It was...nice. Like an old nostalgic photograph she could look at and marvel at how small she had been. No one had looked at her like that for a while, even before she had joined the team.

But would it last? They were both relatively new to the team. So much still left undiscovered about each other. No matter how many times her cheeks flushed or his smile enchanted her, no matter how cute it was when he slipped bits of Spanish into conversation, or when his eyes lingered on her when she smiled. The dark niggling corners of her heart knew better.

Deep down she knew the day would come when she looked at Jaime and found disgruntled, frustrated, disinterested eyes staring back at her. The day he no longer found her amazing. And Cassie wasn't ready to take that risk.

"As far as I can tell, this joint is the weakest," Jaime interrupted her reverie, pointing at a crease in the iron door. "One concentrated blast should take it out without making much noise. From there we'll need to find a better vantage point on the hostages, if they haven't been moved."

"Great, sounds close enough to a plan. Let's -" The words died on her tongue.

Jaime stood motionless. His eyes fixed upon the laser extending from his sleeve. His free hand was clenched tightly, trembling slightly from the effort.

"Blue?"

He jumped a little, startled. "Sorry." He took a deep breath. "You know, I've been thinking, maybe there's a better way to do this. This mission...I'm starting to think it's over our heads. Maybe we could call Nightwing and-"

This wasn't like him. This wasn't Blue at all.

In the short time they had known each other, Jaime was one of the first ones out of the gate, always hoping for an Alpha assignment, pretending he didn't care about getting stuck on Gamma, and eager to stick it to the bad guys. They were the same in that respect. To hesitate like this, after they had come all this way, something was very, very wrong.

Cassie stood in his path, putting a halt to his avoidant gaze, and placed a warm hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?" she asked seriously. No trace of teasing or good-natured humor.

"Nothing," he lied.

She frowned with impatience. "You're not going anywhere until you get this off your chest. If you go out there conflicted, you'll get hurt, maybe even killed."

Jaime gave a short, humorless laugh. "Like the scarab would let that happen. It's really nothing. Just feeling a bit of self-doubt. No big deal."

"Tell me about it."

"Look, I appreciate what you're doing, but we don't have time for this."

She swallowed the desire to punch answers out of him. "Tell me," she implored. "Please. We're a team. Teammates look out for each other. And that means sharing. Now share and share fast."

That seemed to work. She filed the information away to always appeal to teamwork when it came to convincing.

He rubbed the back of his neck, deliberately avoiding her gaze, and cleared his throat. "Do you ever feel...I don't know, more nervous about fighting normal people than aliens?"

Cassie's eyebrows rose slightly. That's all this was? "Sure," she answered carefully. "I always have to consciously hold back my strength so I don't end up knocking their teeth into their skull, if that's what you mean. Why? Are you afraid of hurting these guys? You never mentioned it before."

"Well...ever since they got the drop on us back there, I've been wondering what I could've done better. And then I realized," he took a shaky breath. "Even with all this suit can do, there wasn't a single weapon that could've immobilized them and not blown up everyone in the room. Everything that came to mind was a cannon, or a laser."

He chanced a glance at her, as though waiting for her to yell at him or run away. Instead, she nodded, her eyes clear and focused. "Go on."

"When I first got this suit, I thought it was a blessing. A way to make me, like, heroic or something." Cassie remembered the first time she saw him, zooming happily to school and still managing to be late. She remembered how cute she thought he was. "But now I know better," he said firmly. "It's a weapon. That's all it ever was." He flexed his fingers mournfully. "The power I use to save people is the very one that could rip them apart. And I'm still struggling just to reign it in. It's not just me in here, remember? The scarab has a say too. What if one day I wake up and the scarab's in control? Can you imagine? You would all come right up to me and before you can say  _'Buenos dias, Jaime,'_ the suit blasts a hole in your head."

"You can't know that," she said softly.

"And you can't know I won't lose control," He sighed and pressed a fist to his forehead. She could almost see the stress building up behind him like a bursting dam. "I...I think you chose the wrong person for your mission partner. That's all."

What was there to say? How does one comfort a conflicted friend when his problem is a sentient space beetle playing shoulder devil? Some sensitive, comforting words came to mind. A few speeches Wonder Woman had given her, a few lectures from her mom, and at least one after school special heart warmer that felt just sappy enough to work.

But Cassie didn't work well with sappy.

"Blue. If you weren't wearing that armor, I punch you so hard right now."

Jaime nearly got whip lash, his head snapped around so fast. "Huh?"

"You think you're the first person with superpowers to think that? Once, I almost ripped a kid's arm off because he challenged me to arm wrestling and, you know me, I can't back down!" She squeezed his shoulder tightly. "But that's why we're on this team. To grow and control our powers so that one day when the time comes to help people we won't need to hesitate."

"Yeah, but-"

"No but's!" she interrupted. "It's fine to be nervous. Really, it is. But don't forget you're not alone here. You've got me! I'll always be looking out for you."

Jaime's eyes brightened. "Yeah?"

"Of course. You watch my back, I'll watch yours. That's how teamwork goes."

His face wilted a bit. "Oh, of course." He slapped his face a few times, screwing up his determination. "Heh, you were right. I feel much better."

Cassie exhaled a long breath of relief. There was nothing scarier than a conflicted partner. She knew better than anyone that's how mistakes were made. It was almost a bit jarring for her to be the calm headed one for once. This mission was bringing out sides of her she had no idea existed.

She slapped him quickly on the shoulder, grinning. "That's more like it! So, you got a plan?"

"Actually, I think I do." Jaime thought for a moment, studying her closely. "How would you feel about a little more acting?"

* * *

The silence was absolute in the packaging room, broken ever so slightly by low mutters and a kicked pebble here or there. One man was checking his gun repeatedly as though afraid a light breeze would knock the clip right out. They were tense. It was understandable. They were under the same roof as two super kids. Whether they were conscious or not, that was a difficult position to be in. At first there had been the usual surge of adrenaline that came with momentary triumph over crazy powerful rivals, but it had been soon replaced by effervescent fear.

It begged the unspoken question. Who else knew? Would they be besieged by Superman, waylaid by Green Arrow, eviscerated by Wonder Woman?

It was almost poetic, Jaime thought. They were holding out for some fear of the Justice League when the real dangers were still in high school and kneeling right outside in the hallway. Only one automatic door stood between them and the hostages. And about twenty armed men. In the corner of his eye he could see a small trail of unconscious bodies they had silently knocked out and dragged away. It had been surprisingly easy to accomplish once he had had the heart-to-heart with Cassie. He could feel his fear dissipating with every step she was beside him. She really was incredible.

But now it was on to business. "Let's try this again," he whispered. "Scarab, can you jam all electronic frequencies in the area?"

The scarab complied. A nearby guard's walkie-talkie fizzled out. He pulled it out for inspection, befuzzled.

"Now kill the lights."

At once the halls were plunged into darkness. Panic spread like wildfire, coupled with the successive clicks of armed rifles. Their frantic yells reverberated around the room.

"We've got company! The super brats are awake!"

"Toldja sedatives wouldn't work!"

"What do we do?!"

Cassie seized the moment to stride into the room, her head thrust forward and shoulders swaggering from side to side. Battle spirit practically sparked from her fingers. "Nothing," she called out with a smirk. "Now, drop your weapons or my blue friend here makes creams brûlée out of your brains!"

"Any chance we can come out of this  _not_  sounding like mobsters?" Jaime hissed from the corner of his mouth.

Again, that dangerous glimmer in her eyes. "Where's the fun in that?" she whispered back.

He resisted the impulse to roll his eyes. "Ready?"

"Always."

Jaime cleared his throat. "Ahem, friends? We are not friends, human!"

Cassie gasped, her eyes wide and shimmering. "What!"

He unsheathed a plasma blaster. It hurt to point an actual weapon at her, but she had insisted for authenticity. "Stand with the others and await your destruction."

"Are you betraying me?" she demanded.

"I would never ally myself with you tiny earthlings in the first place! Ha ha ha!" he laughed stiffly. Beside him, Cassie cringed. There hadn't been time to work on his diabolical laughter.

But it didn't seem to matter to the men. They were so bewildered, several had dropped their weapons and one or two had snuck out the back.

If they were going to move, it had to be now. Jaime conveyed his thoughts with a look, and Cassie gave a minute nod. Now came the tricky part.

"Traitor!" Cassie lunged into a clumsy punch.

He seized her arm and threw her against the opposite wall where she smashed into a pile of empty boxes, crushing the cardboard frames with a sickening  _crunch._  For a terrifying moment, he feared he had actually harmed her and bit back a yell. The men were staring, terrified.

Only when he caught a glimpse of blonde hair shifting among the wreckage did he continue the act. It was working. Their plan was actually working!

"Now then," he continued, waving the cannon in a haphazard attempt at nonchalance. "Which of you is  _el jefe_  around here?"

A scruffy man with biceps the size of melons and a jagged scar tailing from earlobe to collar bone stepped forward. There was no doubt; he was the man from the article. His walk had a cocky swagger and a rather large machine gun was mounted over his shoulder.

"That'd be me.  _Hombre._ " He cocked the weapon and blasted a stream of bullets directly at Jaime. They glanced off the armor with no effect.

Out came the horrified gasps of his men. "Boss, what are you doing!"

The boss gave them a despairing look, clearly disgusted at having to work with such imbeciles. "Get your heads of your asses, idiots! They're just kids! And what kind of alien speaks Spanish?"

_Oops._

"Hey!" another one shouted. "That chick is trying to free the hostages!"

Cassie had just finished untying the girls' bonds. Her head shot up guiltily.

"It's a trick!"

"Shoot 'em! Shoot all of 'em!"

Cassie fell directly in front of the girls. The bullets skimmed off her bracelets with subsequent  _pings._ "Sorry boys, no time to play. Blue, little help?"

Jaime nodded. His sonic cannon started charging with a high-pitched whine, enough to draw the men's attention. "Okay, you caught me," he said. "I'm a fake alien. Unfortunately for you, my toys are real."

The cannon emitted a crippling discharge of sound waves, blasting apart the floor. The men ran and dodged for cover. Amidst the settling clouds of dust, Jaime jumped through the air and landed at Cassie's side.

"Well, that was fun while it lasted," she said with a conversational air, idly blocking a few stray bullets like swatting flies. "Now what?"

"Plan B."

"Which is?"

Jaime detached the girls from where they clung to Cassie and tucked one under each arm like large, squirming footballs. "Run!"

One girl's flailing fingers nearly lodged up his nose in her desperate attempts to escape his grip. "Aah! Alien! Lemme go!" she cried.

"I'm not a - oh, forget it! I'm trying to save your life, ok? So quit trying to hit me!"

They sped through the halls, Cassie flying backwards to ward off bullets with her bracelets. Jaime had never flown so fast in his life, especially not while carrying a terrified little girl under his arm. Their enemies gave up chasing soon after realizing it was pointless and decided to expedite the process by simply shooting everything in their path.

"Wonder Girl!" Jaime called over the hailstorm of firing. "We need to get to the main manufacturing room. It has a glass skylight, we can break right through it! But we need to take care of these guys first!" He jabbed a thumb behind him at their pursuers.

"Say no more, I am all over it!" Cassie whirled around mid-flight, her feet skidding backwards in the floor grinding her to a halt, and raised one fist in the air. With a cheeky grin in place, she smashed the ground at full-strength, emitting a shock wave that tore up the cement. The destroyed floor rose in a wave, toppling the men like dominoes.

The stupidly brave ones who avoided the blow charged after them. Cassie cracked her knuckles, eyes gleaming with anticipation.

"All right, boys," she murmured to herself. "You wanna dance? Only one song left. Who wants it?"

Foe after foe collapsed within reaching two feet of her. Some flew through the air, arms wriggling to cushion the fall; others slid painfully on the ground like clumsy baseball runners sliding headfirst into home plate. Cassie was in her element. Her hair spun in a halo, dipping and weaving with each of her fluid movements. She was the picture of unrefined grace.

Jaime could only gape in awe.

Soon they had reached their exit, just as Cassie was on her last set of thugs. She punched one man, kicked another, and grabbed the one attempting to stab her from behind by the neck, pulling him over her own head and flinging him into the other two so that they all tumbled to the ground. Hard.

"Steee-rike!" she whooped.

"Nice work," Jaime remarked, gazing out at the second trail of unconscious bodies they had left in one day. He aimed a cannon at the skylight and blew it out. Shards of dirty glass tinkled to the floor, revealing the bright night sky above them. Freedom.

"Let's get out of-" A large shadow barrelling in from an unknown entrance made him stop. Apparently the boss knew a second way around the warehouse and had made a pitstop while his workers were busy having their butts handed to them. Rows of bullets were draped around the man's torso, feeding into the largest machine gun Jaime had ever seen.

In less than a second, both understood the situation. Cassie grabbed both girls and tucked both to her chest, blocking them with her body while Jaime stood in front and created a shield. The bullets peppered the shield with explosive force, but he held them back, digging his heels into the ground. He would not give in here. Not considering what was at stake.

"C'mere," Jaime beckoned Cassie closer. It took all of his self-restraint not to blush when she leaned in. Their faces were a mere inch apart. "Listen, when he stops to reload - which should be any minute now - we move. I'll charge him, you fly those two out of here."

"Got it." Cassie tightened her hold on the girls and whispered comforting words to calm their frazzled nerves.

The bullets seemed endless. With each deflection, Jaime's confidence wavered. The man's psychotic laughter didn't help either. It was lucky he was keeping his distance, and Jaime didn't blame him. Why risk close quarters combat when you could just shoot and shoot until the shields gave in?

The girls' sobs grew stronger with every storm of bullets that bounced past them, peppering the back wall. Jaime wished he could show them his real face and soothe them like Cassie could. No matter how hard he looked, he couldn't shake the image of his own little sister in them. Milagro. If she ever got involved with kind of situation...Jaime didn't even want to picture it.

It was then that he noticed. The girls were still wearing ratty pajamas. Colorful cartoon characters gambolled around the dirty fabric. Clearly they had been stolen from their beds some time ago. The tattered sleeves revealed unnaturally dark shadows on their forearms. Bruises. Black and purple sausage-like fingerprints with mottled green edges.

_Madre de Dios._  He squeezed his eyes shut against hot stinging tears. Jaime had seen these kinds of bruises before. Old, barely healed, little to no medical treatment. One of the cuts had a half-peeled Hello Kitty bandage sticking loosely to her skin. It was Tye and Maurice all over again.

Anger, white-hot and burning, surging through every muscle in his body, every follicle in his hair.

He was so enraged he almost missed the split second of silence when the bullets ran out. They moved as one. Cassie shot up upwards, clutching onto both girls like two squirming, shrieking pillows. Jaime charged, plasma gun unleashed. The first blast was non-lethal and sent the man flying into a pile of boxes, but the man's gun was still shooting. The bullets sprayed in a chaotic arc up to the ceiling, almost grazing Cassie. The girls screamed, clutching at Cassie with every ounce of strength they had left. She winced at their scrabbling nails.

Another blast disintegrated the gun. "Wonder Girl, everyone okay?" he called in a panic.

Cassie checked the girls over and breathed a sigh of relief. "We're fine, Blue."

"All right. Get those two out of here. I'll clean up here."

Cassie eyes narrowed. She could hear the fury pulsing underneath his voice, slowly ebbing between his words. "Blue..." she started.

Blood was pumping too loudly in his ears for him to think. "It's cool, I got this."

She nodded stiffly, and darted up to the blasted window. He waited for the red hem of her pants to disappear. Cassie didn't need to see this side of him. This side he had no idea existed.

Just seeing the man's face refreshed his rage. He pulled the man up to eye level. With any luck the insect eyes of the suit would put the fear of God in him. "Listen up,  _cabron,"_ he seethed."Because I'm talking now. You think you're a big man for this? Do you have any idea what you put those girls through? Well? DO YOU?!"

But the man was barely conscious, only half registering Jaime's words. Enraged, Jaime seized the man's collar and dragged him into the air. He could feel the scarab vibrate with joy at a chance for control.

"It's because of you...men like  _you!"_ His right arm lifted, fingers curled for a punch. Machinery snaked around his arm, forming the muzzle of a cannon. He could hardly feel his limbs anymore. All sensation was replaced by cold, burning rage. He was mad at everyone and everything. At Tye for leaving, at Maurice for driving him out, at Tye's mom for staying with that monster, and at the people who kidnapped him. More than anyone, he was angry with himself for not reaching Tye in time, for not dropping everything to find him. For not being strong enough.

"Jaime."

He stopped. Cassie was floating at his shoulder. She came back. She had returned for his sake. Pulling at his arm the way she always did. He could feel her warm fingertips lightly brushing against his shoulder even through the thick armor shell. He could see the sympathy in her eyes, but hear the ferocity in her voice.

"That's enough." With a firm, steady hand she uncurled his grip around the dirtbag's shirt and pulled back into the air by his upper arm.

They flew in silence until she dragged to a far off building's rooftop. He could still see the darkened warehouse in the distance. The man was still there. Unconscious, but still able to move. What if he woke up? What if he got away before the cops arrived? What if he left state, changed his name, maybe settle down with another little family for safety and terrorized more kids? Try as he might, Jaime couldn't shake the desire to cripple that man for life.

"Let me go back. That jerk and I have unfinished business."

"No."

"But Cassie, you saw what he did, what he was going to do!"

"I understand," she said. "I really do. But you need to let it go. The police will be there soon and-

A half-hearted laugh escaped him. "The police? Now you want to let them do their jobs? I thought the whole point of this stupid late night excursion was to fix their mistakes!"

She bit her lip. That point had sunk deep. Jaime was too angry to notice.

"What do you want to do, Jaime? Go back and what? Cripple him?"

"For starters." He muttered. The voice didn't even sound like his own.

Her eyes grew wide, her lip quivered slightly. If he didn't know better, he might have thought she was on the verge of tears. But why would she cry over him? "Stop," she said. "Do you hear yourself? This isn't you, Jaime."

Jaime threw his hands up in frustration. "How do you know! To everyone else I'm just another alien, maybe they're right! Maybe that's what I've become thanks to this stupid thing! A monster!"

Cassie's fists clenched. Any sign of teary eyes were replaced with the righteous anger he was accustomed to seeing on her face. He braced himself for inevitable punch.

But before he could breathe, Cassie had pulled him into a rough hug. The shock of her contact was enough to soften the hatred boiling under his skin. All he could feel was her. In tandem, their knees sank to the ground, and both pairs of hands tightened around the other's back.

"You are  _not_ a monster," she said in a low, fervent voice. "And if you ever say that again, I  _will_ punch you."

He couldn't remember how long they stayed like that, locked in the other's embrace. He only remembered how cold his arms felt when it was over.

* * *

With no knowledge of the city and only the children's vague memories of their address, Jaime and Cassie searched for somewhere safe and enclosed to wait for the police to show.

"Really?" Cassie commented dryly. "A public park?"

"Where else were we supposed to take them?" Jaime hissed. "Besides, kids like parks. It might make them less..." He gestured minutely to the former hostages.

The girls had not released Cassie's hands since touching down in the park. They peeked at Jaime through webbed fingers, yelping in surprise when he turned to look at them, and darting behind Cassie's legs.

"Um, Blue? You can armor down now." Cassie suggested.

"I'm trying. The scarab's being difficult again," Jaime started tugging at the inky black armor covering his scalp. The girls shrunk back even further. "Don't worry, I have a face, I swear. It's in here somewhere..." He pulled harder and the material snapped back like a rubber band. "Oh, come on, they're not a security threat, they're kids! Would you just - agh!"

He continued pulling at the armor, yelling a few choice phrases in Spanish that Cassie was glad she didn't understand. To her surprise, the girls watched the spectacle and slowly began to lapse into quiet giggles. Even she couldn't hold back a smile watching Jaime stumble around violently and calling his suit  _"idiota."_

"Glad you're enjoying yourselves," he remarked gloomily after noticing their laughter.

"Sssh, it's working!" Cassie beckoned the girls closer, a wicked sparkle in her eyes. "Why don't you try asking him questions about the suit?" she whispered in a conspiratorial undertone.

The younger of the two straightened immediately and asked, "Mr. Alien. Why are you blue?"

"Yeah, Mr. Alien," the other one piped up. "Everyone knows aliens are green."

Jaime frowned, as Cassie knew he would. "Let's get something straight, okay? I am  _not_  an alien, _comprendes_? I am  _wearing_ alien armor. There's a difference." Jaime suddenly grabbed the side of his head. "No, this isn't an interrogation, they're just baiting you! Dude, you are being played by little girls! No, stop it, argh!" Soon Jaime began stumbling around again, trying to force the cannon back into his arm in a drunken dance.

The girls began to laugh uncontrollably, and Cassie knew the barrier between them had broken. In fact, once they likened the suit to Dora the Explorer's backpack - ("Because you talk to it in Spanish and cool stuff comes out!") - fear quickly became a non-issue. Cassie stood off to the side and observed as they poked Jaime for hidden compartments, squealing with joy when he showed them his wings. Never mind that he was trying to prevent them from being incinerated the whole time.

Less than half an hour passed before they heard echoing police sirens drawing nearer to their location.

"Time to go, Blue," Cassie called. The girls wailed with disappointment, clutching to Jaime's arms and legs like koalas.

He lowered the girls to the ground. "Girls," he said seriously. "Wonder Girl and me, we're superheroes, right? But you have to keep it a secret. Otherwise - uh...we'll lose our superpowers! Then we won't be able to help people any more. So can you promise not to tell anyone, not even your mom?"

"We won't tell, pinky swear!" They chimed in unison, hooking pinkies with Jaime's armor plated ones.

Two quick hugs goodbye and off they sprinted through the bushes to greet the cop cars. A frantic looking woman sprung from the foremost car, dropped to her knees, and collected her children in a tight hug. The scene brought a brief tear to Cassie's eye.  _This_ is why she became a superhero, she thought. This was the moment every hero fights for. And it was so goddamn beautiful each and every time.

Jaime and Cassie hid behind the bushes until the last car left, headlights blinking in the distance. Flushed with success and bursting with accomplishment, the two collapsed on a nearby bench, their legs sprawled and heads leaning back to the sky, only to realize it was officially morning. Already the first pink rays of dawn were beginning to stain the clouds.

They exchanged a cautious glance. Technically, there was nothing left for them here. The girls were safe, the bad guys finished, the day saved. Like it or not, their mission was over.

Jaime de-armored with a groan and jammed his hands into his sweatshirt pockets. " _Ay dios mio,"_  he grumbled. "I've got school in, like, three hours."

"Me too," Cassie sighed. "Oh well. It's only a matter of time before Nightwing figures out where we are. What to do until then?"

Neither moved an inch. Their feet were rooted to the ground. Whoever made the first move would determine how the night ended. And Cassie wasn't about to let Jaime beat her to the punch. In the midst of wondering what to do, she caught a glimpse the swing set, swaying slightly in the light morning breeze.

Her eyes sparkled with intrigue. "I've got an idea."

Jaime frowned slightly. "The thought of you and ideas gives me chills."

She rolled her eyes playfully and sprinted towards the nearby swing set. In one leaping bound she landed feet first on the seat. The momentum caused her to swing high into the air. Her knees buckled slightly when it swung backwards like a shaky pendulum. She could hear Jaime laughing on the ground. "Come on!" she encouraged him.

He took a seat on the adjacent swing, watching her with laughter in his eyes. "I hate to break it to you, but you're doing it wrong."

"How so?"

"For one thing, you're not actually sitting."

Cassie had given up on gravity and was hanging upside from the metal bar like a monkey. She flipped off and floated back to the ground. "All right then. Teach me the 'right way' to have fun. If you can."

"Lesson one," Jaime started pumping his legs to get the swing going. "Use your legs. When you get near the bottom, kick out again." He was making gradual progress back and forth through the sky. "That's it. Just don't fly."

She obliged. It was slow, dull effort. Gravity. So overrated. Not that it didn't have an upside. When she had trouble keeping her strength down long enough to kick off without blasting a small valley in the wood chips, Jaime grabbed the chains of her swing to lead her. Soon they were swinging at the same comfortable pace, holding their opposing chains.

"I bet this is the closest normal people can get to flying," Cassie mused thoughtfully.

"Welcome to mortality," Jaime laughed. "I guess it's a good thing we're nothing close to normal, right?"

She bit her lip. Normal. Her definition of it was changing every day.

Somehow this felt like the perfect opening for a final test of his feelings. And hers as well, she supposed. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"You don't think it's...weird for me - as a girl - to be strong? I mean, powers or no powers. Would you rather fight your own battles?"

Jaime let out of a derisive laugh. "Ha! Are you kidding?" He tapped the side of his head. " _Mírame,_ Cassie, I've got a murderous psychopathic insect talking in my brain. You saved my butt back there. And if there's anyone who needs occasional saving it's me." She frowned and opened her mouth to protest. "Yeah, I know what you said earlier and I'm beyond grateful," he said. "But it doesn't change the fact that I still might be dangerous. This team...working together with you and the others, it's going to save me, I just know it."

His gaze nearly bore a hole through her skin. Without thinking her head whipped away, very gracefully tangling her hair in the chain links near his fingers. Jaime laughed and started concentrating on freeing the strands. She moved her head closer, allowing the strands to slacken between them. He had such long eyelashes, she observed.

"Then I guess  _someone_  has to look out for you," she said quietly, unable to tear her eyes away.

Neither knew how, but their heads had reflexively bent close together. Mere inches of air separated them. Enough to feel the slightest breath.

Jaime finally untangled her hair and, in an uncharacteristically daring move, tucked it back behind her hood, allowing his thumb to brush against her cheek. "And I'm glad it's you."

In that moment, Cassie could feel the air disappear. Like some giant vacuum had sucked it from the sky. Her lungs wanted to breathe in, but he was too close. So, so close.

Something greater than instinct caused her to close the distance between them. It felt like natural progression. First there was space, then there was him. The warmth of his lips pressing against hers. Small and light. Nothing more than a whisper of a kiss. But it was enough. It was everything-

_Bzzzzz, bzzzzzz!_

The angry buzzing of their radios split the air with such force that they both jumped. Each released their grips on the swing chains causing them to be literally flung apart.

"Blue Beetle, Wonder Girl, report! Where are you!" Nightwing's furious voice blared from the screen.

_There goes the mood,_  she thought mournfully watching Jaime's swing fall away.

Her cheeks still blazed with fiery heat. She could've sworn they had turned their communicators off. Then again, knowing their brilliant leader, hacking into two inactive coms was probably a cakewalk.

Jaime cringed, mentally preparing for the verbal backlash. "Blue Beetle here -"

"Return to the Cave, immediately! We'll talk about your serious infringement when you get back. Nightwing out."

Cassie and Jaime exchanged an uneasy glance.

"How much do you think he knows?"

* * *

"Well, I don't think I need to tell you what went wrong last night."

"But he's going to anyway," Cassie hissed in an undertone only Jaime could hear.

Nightwing ignored her. His arms were crossed angrily in front of the blue wings emblazoned on his sculpted chest. Even "You hacked the mission logs, took it upon yourselves to go on a self-assigned solo mission  _without telling anyone_ in the midst of a crisis, and put countless civilians at risk. We're scanning the entire globe for unauthorized alien tech, did you really think we  _wouldn't_ notice?"

Nightwing's voice bounced around the domed ceilings, ringing angrily in their ears. Jaime and Cassie flinched at every ruthless syllable.

"You're both unseasoned, reckless, and - do I have to say it? - you stand out!" he continued. "If those cameras had been operational, both your faces would be plastered all over the evening news! What part of covert operations do you not understand! Especially Blue Beetle, in case you've forgotten the public is a bit torn about aliens right now."

"And nothing screams alien than me, we get it. We're really -"

"I'm not done. You put yourselves, innocents, and your team at great risk." Nightwing took a deep breath. The two cringed, awaiting the final blow, but instead saw his shoulders unclench and his face relax. "But you also saved the lives of two innocent girls and prevented widespread distribution of military firearms to the biggest crime syndicates in the country. So...nice work."

Jaime and Cassie's eyes lit up. They shared a quick grin before he added, "But don't do it again. And report back here after school for extra training with Black Canary. By the time she's done with you, you'll be sweating out your impulsiveness until you understand the definition of priorities."

The two junior heroes nearly shivered facing the brunt of his commanding aura, but it as they turned to leave they saw the shadow of a half-smile. His threats were empty, and they all knew it.

* * *

Dick watched Jaime and Cassie leave, the two of them were practically skipping with joy. He wondered briefly if he had been too soft on them, and made plans for a stricter lecture next time. Maybe he would ask Bruce for some pointers-

_Recognized: Zatanna. Two. Five._

He smiled. Even without the electronic voice, the staccato clicking of Zatanna's heels was enough to identify her.

"Welcome back," Dick greeted her.

"You finish giving them the angry daddy treatment?" she quipped, striding up to him at the control panel.

"You just missed it. Thanks again for helping out."

"My pleasure," she replied. "It was fun."

"What did you think?"

"They make a good team. They balance each other out nicely. Blue was looking a bit shaky towards the end, but as long as they have each other - and the team, of course - I think they'll be just fine."

"That's good to hear." Dick let out a quiet breath. Not that there had been much doubt, but it was still a relief to hear. He looked her up and down, eyes sparkling with curiosity. "I gotta know, what form did you use undercover?"

Zatanna grinned mischievously, waved a hand, and chanted,  _"Egnahc otni ym suoiverp esiugsid."_ Immediately the hair shortened, the skin bloated, the features shaped into a rough man's stubble, the clothes transformed to a dirty apron, and she shot up several inches. There, completely unrecognizable, was a older rotund man.

Dick bit back a laugh and nodded approvingly. "Wow. And who exactly is this character of yours?"

The man in Zatanna's place smiled. "Bartender at a college bar."

"Very nice. Complete opposite of yourself."

Another spell and his ravishing ex-girlfriend appeared once again. "And they have no idea you orchestrated the whole thing?" she asked.

Dick shook his head with a small sigh. "Not a clue. To be honest, I was sure they would've figured it out. Since when have we ever passed up a case, no matter how big or small?"

"Still, they did good out there. I'd give them a B plus, maybe A minus. They've got a lot to learn, but at least they're in good hands here."

His eyebrows raised slightly. "High praise coming from you. Our newest members did that well? I predicted as much."

She chuckled warmly. "You sound so proud."

"Of course I am," Dick said, chest puffed slightly. "They're my team."

"Naturally." Zatanna reached to cup his cheek and planted a chaste kiss on his cheek. She waved over her shoulder, strutting back to the zeta tubes. "Good work, leader."

* * *

After all that had happened between them, Jaime wasn't expecting to see Cassie for another few days at least. He thought she might be abiding by that unspoken three days rule, to truly test if their feelings were genuine. Jaime knew he didn't need any test. Every blonde head of hair in a crowd was Cassie's, every whispered conversation could have been her voice in his ear, and every bruise he received during his intensive punishment session with Black Canary was a reminder of that night. Their night.

So when his mother called him to the door the following afternoon, the last thing he was expecting was to find Cassie, standing on his doorstep wearing civvies and a pink cheeked smile.

"Thought I'd try the front door this time," she grinned.

No matter how his heart leapt at the sight of her, a flashing red light of deja vu went off in his head. He stuck a hand out to stop her. "Oh no, not another solo mission,  _por favor."_

"No, no, nothing like that. Our little adventure the other day really wore me out, actually. I could really blow off some steam after that. So I was wondering if you wanted to go out -" Jaime's breath hitched in his throat, "and train a bit?"

His brows narrowed in confusion. It was a strange request, considering the bruises from Black Canary's special training session the previous day hadn't even healed. "You came all the way out here just to train? What about at the Cave?"

"Oh, well, I was just in the neighborhood, you know, and I thought..." She stamped her foot with impatience. Excuses were not her style, he could tell. "Look, are you in or out?"

Jaime bit back a laugh. For a second there she had looked so...was there a word for it? Almost shy, demure even. Like this wasn't something she did often. Or ever. Was there any physically possible way to turn that down?

"In!" he said, a little too quickly. "Definitely in. Just let me get my jacket, okay?"

His mother turned her head curiously at the sight of him sprinting through the house, almost ripping his coat in the process of pulling it on mid-run. "More of your special extra curriculars?" she asked, laughter dancing in her eyes.

"Not this time," he grinned. Coming down the stairs he could feel his feet lift through the air. The split second of weightless soaring was the closest he had ever felt to flying without the suit. "I've got a date."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obligatory Spanish Glossary Pt. 2
> 
> El jefe = the boss  
> Hombre = man (used here in a "dude/bro" context)  
> Madre de Dios = Mother of God (exclamation)  
> cabron = Bastard, asshole, insert inappropriate cuss of your choice here  
> comprendes? = do you understand?  
> Mírame = Look at me

**Author's Note:**

> Obligatory Spanish Glossary
> 
> [Hopefully most of these are common knowledge but I felt obliged to translate them anyway.]  
> ese = Spanish equiv. of bro, dude, etc.  
> Es más tarde para la computadora." = It's too late for the computer.  
> mijo = my son (affectionate)  
> niñas = little girls  
> Estás loca = You're crazy.


End file.
